| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| ream 2 (v.) |
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| often combines with out and is Standard meaning “to enlarge an opening or a tube by stretching or reshaping its inside with an instrument,” just as it is in its figurative sense meaning “to clean out,” as in A pipe cleaner can ream [out] the gunk from a pipestem. Appropriate only in Conversational and Semiformal or Informal uses are ream’s slang senses, “to cheat” (That dealer really reamed us on the trade-in) and “to scold or castigate severely” (Coach really reamed us [out] at halftime for all our mistakes). | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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